Trafalgar Paddy's Irish Red Lager | All or Nothing Brewhouse

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Irish red was created in the 1800′s by master brewer George Henry Lett. Trafalgar has recreated the extraordinary nutty taste and unique amber colour with crystal malts and roasted barley. Tettenanger and saaz hops round out the bouquet of this fine dark lager. Paddy’s compliments such pub fare as stews, cheeses and meat pies.

Paddy's Irish Red pours a slightly hazy orange amber with a thin, bubbly head. The aroma is malty, with hints of caramel and nome nice herbal hops. The flavor is really nice, a well balanced blend of mildly sweet malt and a nice firm but not overpower hop character. There is a nice toffee undertone, with a hint of nutty chocolate.

T - Again, rather mild, the metallic notes come through alongside the buttered bread and the finish is dominated by grassy and bitter leafy green hop notes.

M - A tad thin and finishes too dry for my liking.

O - Based on the style, it actually is quite fitting offering up tea-like hop notes and a super dry finish. That being said, the metallic notes were a bit of a turn-off, and the mouthfeel made for a less than pleasurable experience.

473 mL can from the LCBO; BB date Nov. 2011. Pours a clear, pale orangey-amber colour, topped with a finger of creamy, off-white head that dissipates to a thin collar and lacing within a minute. I seriously did a double-take while pouring this - it's supposed to be an Irish red but it looks more like an amber or blonde ale. The head is nicer than many Trafalgar brews so I cut it some slack in this category. The aroma is mostly pleasant, but nothing to write home about and not exactly what I'd expect from the style - sweet, bready malts with a touch of honey. A weird sour odour that I can't really put my finger on is blended in with this. Not real impressed so far.

Taste is of sweet, grainy malts, lightly roasted, with some bitter, earthy hop character drying it out in the finish. Normally when I use the term 'earthy' in reviews I don't intend to literally compare the beer to dirt... normally. Dirty hops are better than no hops, I suppose. This bitterness lingers for a bit after the sip. Light to medium-light bodied, with surprisingly little carbonation.

It's drinkable, but a very underwhelming example of the style and I can't envision myself ever recommending this to someone, or buying it again. If you must drink one of Trafalgar's IRAs, their Elora Irish Ale is closer to the style and at least marginally better. Honestly though, I like Smithwick's more than either of them... and that should tell you all you need to know.

It's difficult to take this beer seriously when the brewery calls it a "red" ale and it is, in fact, golden. Even the highest paid attorneys would have a hard time arguing this as even amber, let alone red. That obvious blunder notwithstanding, the beer still looks humdrum. Its tone is tarnished and carbonation lifeless.

Given the appearance I can't say I'm surprised to find that the aroma is boring, or that it lacks all the typical caramelly, biscuity, lightly toasty maltiness that characterizes the best examples of the style. It's far from foul though. The faint scent of grain husks, honeyed oats and delicate florals is actually fairly pleasant, if anything too understated.

Say what you will about Trafalgar's poor quality control, and about how even their more approachable brands are still painfully, pointlessly underwhelming, but truth be told the commercial Irish reds are no better. In fact, Paddy's emulates them well. It has only minimal grainy maltiness, a muted sweetness, a dash of hard minerals and faint impression of adjunct. It's without much character and sure to be quaffable to the average palate.

Not all the style's charm is lost, a great deal of it is there, albeit partial and understated. A light floral quality can be traced from sip to swallow. It imparts a delicate bitterness and refreshing, spring-time tone. The sweetness of the malts, although awfully stunted, has a very loose caramel quality. And the finish is dry and with a halfway roastiness.

Trafalgar's slogan is: "We only sell what we can't drink ourselves!". There's a reason you can find so much of their brands on the shelves here in Ontario - obviously even they don't want to drink the stuff themselves. Certainly no one else will want to take it. While Paddy's may be one of their more agreeable offerings - in that it's not infected and reasonably drinkable - it's still strives to be nothing more than an average beer.

Can: Poured a clear medium amber color ale with a medium foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of dry unrefined grain is somewhat bland. Taste is also dominated by dry unrefined cereal taste with no discernible hops and not that great of a drinkability factor. Very bland average for style and though there is no brewing flaws there is nothing too spectacular to speak of.

Scored from north of the border, let's give it a whirl. Nice foamup on popping the tall boy. Poured into a pint (american 16oz) glass, it is red but also gold, nice foamy head. Smells kind of adjunct. Taste is very different. Balanced but from both ends. Very sweet malts then offset with peppery sharply bitter, but not overly so, hoppiness. Nice mouthfeel, carbonation is there but not over evident. In the aftertaste the bitterness continues and fades to a dry finish. Good head, holds up throughout the pint. A good pint overall the noble hops add a nice touch.

This one is the fourth of six in my OCB mix pack #3. I can't say I'm looking forward to this, as I have yet to encounter even a respectable beer from Trafalgar but every beer deserves a shot.

Appearance: Well, this one scores some serious points for the head of this beer. Solid thumb and a half of head that laces and retains like crazy. However, usually I would expect a red beer, to be...well red. This is more of an orange, leaning closer to Lager yellow then red. Good clarity though.

Smell: Sweet malt, with a rougher roasted grain smell, but something is off about the whole experience. I think I'm getting a touch of malt vinegar from the beer. It's not too strong though. It did take some warming to come out.

Taste: Starts out with an almost watery cardboard taste, which then turns to a be of sweeter toffee and honey flavored malt, which then gets destroyed by a taste, best described as malted dirt with the barest touch of earthy hops. There is some nice points in the middle of the beer, but it's not enough to save this offering.

Mouthfeel: Well the carbonation does make it's presence known throughout the beer, but the aftertaste is that awful soil like taste and it lingers on the back of your tongue. Transitioning could be done a bit better too, as the pleasant middle doesn't last as long as you'd like.

Drinkability: The aftertaste really kills me desire to put this one back. It's not especially refreshing, and is surprisingly medium bodied, which in this case isn't a good thing. It's downable but I wouldn't want to be stuck with a six pack of this stuff.

Final Thoughts: After having this beer, my thoughts suddenly turn to the Simpsons and that episode where Homer has Red Tick Beer, not sure why but I think the Red Dog on the can might have done it. Anyways, I will give this to Trafalgar, they are consistent. When I need to tell someone a brewery to stay away from, they are at the top of my list. I know they sell mead, in addition to beer and maybe it's a bit better, however this offering was disappointing, which sadly seems par for the course for this brewery. I can't also help but ask, why brew this? Their Elora Irish Red is quite a bit better then this, so why brew this stuff?

Appearance: Color is golden orange, not red at all. Lots of carbonation flowing upward from the bottom of the glass. One finger white, pillowy head with decent retention.

Aroma: Some slight hop character, but nothing much at all. A little caramel flavor from hte malt is also present. Not very aromatic and really not muhc going on here.

Taste: Light caramel flavor upfront but fades quickly Some bitter hop notes near the end, not much in terms of flavor, ust a slight bittering effect. Just really watery tasting. Nothing much going on here.

Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with a very watery feel. The carbonation really is not even noticable.

Drinkability: Light flavors, moderate ABV, and a light mouthfeel make this really easy to drink. The bland flavor doesn't make it worth it to stick with for a full night.

Overall, a watery, bland and lackluster Irish Red. I'm not a huge fan of the style, but there just is some flavor that is missing here. The flavors are not bad, just not alway there. Just lackluster all around.

I haven't been too happy with Trafalgar's offerings, but I figured I'd give this one a go. I'm a bit of a sucker for brews with dogs on the label, hoping to find that elusive 'Red Tick Ale'.

Pours a lighter amber hue. Certainly not red, looks more like a pale ale. About a half inch head, settling as a ring around the glass. Good amount of lacing, actually. Other than the colour, it doesn't look too bad.

The nose is...strange. I get that typical malty-caramel combination, but it's followed by what I can only describe as sour butter. I'm bad with identifying odors, but suffice to say, whatever it is it doesn't smell good.

The taste is okay. I'm getting malts and caramel up front, and I find the finish to have a bitter, peppry character. Not hoppy, just... bitter. Not nearly robust enough for me - and certainly too sweet - but otherwise it's drinkable.

Mouthfeel is a touch undercarbonated, slightly creamy.

Aside from the disastrous nose, this brew wasn't too bad. I'll probably not get it again though, knowing how many other reds there are available to me, but it's drinkable.

The appearance of this beer is a stunning dichotomy. It pours a nice rich head that is lacing heavily, yet it is much too light a beer to be described as 'Red', having had numerous pale ales redder than this. The nose is lightly hopped and malty sweet and enjoyable, but the body does not meet these very characteristics. It is a little bit bready and thin with a hint of bitterness. Isn't strong in the mouth, but is an easy drinking beer with a little bit of character.

This beer pours a slightly hazy faded copper colour, with two fingers of chunky beige head, which renders some spotty lace around the glass as it recedes. It smells of mild bready caramel malt, and weedy hops. The taste is more bittersweet caramel malt, some acrid alcohol edginess, and hollow, weedy, almost skunky hops. The carbonation is moderate, the body kind of thin, and rocky, and finishes mostly dry, but with that unpleasant astringent edge standing out.

Too bad this beer doesn't hold up to Team Canada's play: 2-0 after two periods; but no extra points for this underwhelming Canadian suds offering.